Question

I’m using the ErrorProvider in VB.Net (2005) which is associated with a BindingSource that is bound to a custom object that I have created. This custom object contains a date field that has a “Date” data type that. I am using a “TextBox” to bind the date field in my form. My issue is, whenever the TextBox loses focus and is blank, “String not recognized as a valid DateTime” is displayed by the ErrorProvider and the focus can’t be changed to any other control on the Form. It’s good that the ErrorProvider validates entries on Date fields by default (I didn’t set up my custom object to display this particular error for the date), but it should allow blank values. I want the user to be able to have a blank date with no error message displayed. How can this be done using a Date field bound to a TextBox?

I guess I could just change the date datatype to a string in my custom object, but would prefer not to do this. I tried setting the ErrorProvider to an empty string in the “Validating” event for the TextBox, but no luck. Thanks for any assistance.

Answer 1

the AutoValidate property of the form containing the control defines the behavior when validation fails
i think yours is set to “EnablePreventFocusChange”, which makes impossible to change the focus from an invalid control